Danish Law

Danish Criminal Code § 266 b

§ Section 266b Any person who, in public or with intent to disseminate to a wider audience, makes a statement or other communication in which a group of persons is threatened, insulted or degraded on account of their race, colour, national or ethnic origin, creed or sexual orientation shall be liable to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years.
Paragraph 2. For the purpose of determining the penalty, the fact that the conduct is in the nature of propaganda shall be regarded as a particularly aggravating circumstance.

Danish law on discrimination in work spaces

Ordinance on the prohibition of discrimination in the labor market etc.1)

The Act on the Prohibition of Discrimination in the Labor Market, etc. is hereby promulgated in accordance with Legislative Decree No 1349 of 16 December 2008, as amended by Act No 1489 of 23 December 2014.

Chapter 1

Scope of the Act

§ 1. For the purposes of this Act, ‘discrimination’ means any direct or indirect discrimination based on race, color, religion or belief, political opinion, sexual orientation, age, disability or national, social, or ethnic origin.

Section 2. Direct discrimination shall be taken to occur where one person is treated less favorably than another is, has been or would be treated in a comparable situation on grounds of race, color, religion or belief, political opinion, sexual orientation, age, disability or national, social, or ethnic origin.

Section 3. Without prejudice to Article 2a, indirect discrimination shall be taken to occur where an apparently neutral provision, criterion or practice would put persons of a particular race, color, religion or belief, political opinion, sexual orientation or national, social or ethnic origin, or of a particular age or disability, at a disadvantage compared with other persons, unless that provision, criterion or practice is objectively justified by an objective aim and the means of achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary.

Section 4. Harassment shall be deemed to be discrimination where an unwanted conduct related to a person’s race, color, religion or belief, political opinion, sexual orientation, age, disability or national, social or ethnic origin takes place with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person and of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that person.

Section 5. An instruction to discriminate against a person on grounds of race, color, religion or belief, political opinion, sexual orientation, age, disability or national, social, or ethnic origin shall be deemed to be discrimination.

Section 6. Without prejudice to paragraph 7, the Act shall not apply to the extent that equivalent protection against discrimination derives from a collective agreement.

Section 7. The Act shall not apply where a prohibition of discrimination on grounds of age and disability is contained in a collective agreement or contract which corresponds at least to the provisions of Directive 2000/78/EC establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation, reproduced in Annex 1 to the Act.

§ 1a. The Minister of Defense may, after consultation with the organizations concerned, exempt armed forces on active service from the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of age and disability in this Act.

Chapter 2

Prohibition of discrimination

§ 2. An employer shall not discriminate against employees or applicants for vacant posts as regards recruitment, dismissal, transfer, promotion or pay and working conditions.

Section 2. Discrimination in terms of pay shall exist where equal pay is not granted for equal work or for work of equal value.

Section 3. An employee whose pay is lower than that of others in breach of paragraph 1 shall be entitled to the difference.

§ 2a. The employer shall take such measures as are appropriate in view of the specific needs to enable a person with a disability to have access to employment, to pursue employment or to advance in employment, or to enable a person with a disability to have access to training. However, this does not apply if doing so would impose a disproportionate burden on the employer. If this burden is adequately alleviated by public measures, the burden is not considered to be disproportionate.

§ 3. An employer shall not discriminate against employees as regards access to vocational guidance, vocational training, continuing vocational training and retraining.

Section 2. The prohibition of discrimination shall also apply to any person providing guidance and training as referred to in paragraph 1 and to any person providing employment.

Section 3. The prohibition of discrimination shall also apply to any person who lays down rules and decides on admission to pursue activities as a self-employed person.

Section 4. The prohibition of discrimination shall also apply to any person who decides on membership of and participation in an organization of workers or employers and the benefits conferred on members by such organizations.

§ 4. An employer shall not, in connection with or during the employment of an employee, request, obtain or receive and make use of information concerning the employee’s race, color, religion or belief, political opinion, sexual orientation or national, social, or ethnic origin.

§ 5. No advertisement shall indicate that a person of a particular race, color, religion or belief, political opinion, sexual orientation or national, social, or ethnic origin or of a particular age or disability is sought or preferred for employment or vocational training. Nor may it be stated that a person with the characteristics referred to in the first paragraph is not sought.

Section 2. Paragraph 1 shall not apply if an employer may, pursuant to an exemption provision in this Act, give preference to employees with a particular characteristic.

§ 5 a. Provisions in individual or collective agreements and in internal regulations of companies, etc., which are contrary to the prohibition of discrimination in §§ 2-5, are invalid. This also applies to provisions in the statutes etc. of the self-employed and of employers’ and employees’ organizations.

Section 2. Provisions in agreements and in the rules of undertakings etc. which relate to more than one employer shall also be null and void if they provide for discrimination on the grounds of any of the criteria referred to in § 1(1) in the areas referred to in §§ 2 to 5. This also applies to provisions in the statutes etc. of self-employed persons.

Section 3. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the law shall not preclude the maintenance of age limits laid down in, or agreed under, collective agreements provided that such age limits are objectively and reasonably justified by a legitimate aim within the scope of Danish law and the means of achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary.

Section 4. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the law shall not prevent collective agreements or agreements from laying down special rules for the remuneration of young persons under the age of 18. The prohibition of discrimination on grounds of age in respect of employment, pay and dismissal shall not apply to employees under 18 years of age whose employment is covered by a collective agreement containing special rules on the remuneration of young people under 18 years of age.

Section 5. The prohibition of discrimination on grounds of age as regards employment, remuneration and dismissal shall not apply to young persons under 15 years of age whose employment is not governed by a collective agreement.

§ 5 b. The provisions of the Act may not be derogated from by agreement to the disadvantage of the employee.

Chapter 3

Exceptions

§ 6 The prohibition of discrimination on grounds of political opinion, religion, or belief in §§ 2-5 shall not apply to employers whose business has as its express purpose the promotion of a particular political or religious opinion or belief and where the employee’s political opinion, religious belief or belief is to be regarded as important to the business.

Section 2. Where, in the case of certain occupations and training, it is essential that the person concerned should be of a particular race, political opinion, sexual orientation or national, social or ethnic origin, or of a particular color, age or disability, or of a particular religion or belief, and the requirement of a particular affiliation is proportionate to the occupational activity concerned, the Minister may, after obtaining the opinion of the Minister for Employment, derogate from the provisions of sections 2 to 5.

§ 6 a. Notwithstanding §§ 2-5, this Act shall not prevent the fixing of age limits for access to or entitlement to pension or invalidity benefits covered by occupational social security schemes or the application of the age criterion in actuarial calculations under such schemes. The application of the age criterion shall not result in discrimination on grounds of sex.

Chapter 4

Compensation, assessment of evidence, etc.

§ 7. Persons whose rights have been infringed by a violation of §§ 2-4 may be awarded compensation.

Section 2. A person who is subjected to disadvantageous treatment or disadvantageous consequences because he or she has made a claim for equal treatment under §§ 2-4 may be awarded compensation.

§ 7 a. If a person who considers himself or herself to have been wronged under §§ 2-4 demonstrates facts from which it may be presumed that direct or indirect discrimination is taking place, it shall be for the other party to prove that the principle of equal treatment has not been infringed.

§ 8. Violation of § 5 is punishable by a fine.

Section 2. If the infringement is committed by a company, association, charitable institution, foundation or the like, the legal person as such may be held liable to a fine. If the offence is committed by the State, a municipality or a municipal community covered by Section 60 of the Local Government Act, the State, municipality, or municipal community may be held liable to a fine.

§ 8 a. Complaints against violations of the prohibition of discrimination under this Act and against violations of the prohibition of reprisals in § 7(2) shall be dealt with by the Equal Treatment Board.

Chapter 5

Entry into force and relations with other legislation, etc.

§ 9. § 4 shall not apply to the extent that special legislation provides otherwise.

Section 2. This Act shall not prevent measures being taken pursuant to another Act, pursuant to provisions based on another Act or otherwise by public measure which are intended to improve employment opportunities for persons of a particular race, color, religion or belief, political opinion, sexual orientation or national, social, or ethnic origin or of a particular age or disability.

Section 3. The Act shall not prevent the implementation of measures to promote employment opportunities for older workers and persons with disabilities.

Section 4. In order to protect children and younger workers, the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of age in Sections 2 to 5 of the Act shall not prevent the establishment of age limits for access to employment by law or by virtue of law.

§ 10. The Act shall enter into force on 1 July 1996.

§ 11. The Act shall not apply to the Faroe Islands and Greenland.

Act No 253 of 7 April 2004 amending the Act on the Prohibition of Discrimination in Employment, etc.2) contains the following entry into force provision:

§ 2

The Act shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Gazette.3)

Act No 1417 of 22 December 2004 (Inclusion of age and disability as criteria in the Act)4) contains the following entry into force provision:

§ 2

The Act enters into force on the day following its publication in the Official Gazette.5)

Law No 240 of 27 March 2006 (Exemption for young people under 18)6) contains the following entry into force provision:

§ 2

The Act enters into force on 1 April 2006.

Act No 1542 of 20 December 2006 (Increase of the age limit for agreements on termination of employment)7) contains the following entry into force provision:

§ 2

Section 2(1). The Act shall enter into force on 1 January 2008.

Section 2. However, provisions in collective agreements or agreements on the termination of the employment relationship when the employee reaches the age of 65 or over, concluded after 27 December 2004 but before the entry into force of this Act, shall remain valid until the date on which the agreement in question may be terminated.

Act No 387 of 27 May 2008 on the Equal Treatment Tribunal8) contains the following entry into force provision:

§ 14

The Act shall enter into force on 1 January 2009.

Act No 1489 of 23 December 2014 (Abolition of the 70-year age limit, etc.)9) contains the following entry into force provision:

§ 2

Section 1. The Act shall enter into force on 1 January 2015, subject to paragraph 2.

Section 2 § 1, nr 1 shall enter into force on 1 January 2016.

Section 3. Provisions in collective agreements or agreements on the termination of the employment relationship when the employee reaches the age of 70 or more, concluded before the entry into force of this Act, shall continue to apply until the date on which the agreement or agreement in question may be terminated.

Ministry of Employment, 24 August 2017

Troels Lund Poulsen

Source

https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2017/1001

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